Diving board



Dec. 6, 1960 N. BUCK DIVING BOARD Filed Jan. 13, 1958 INV BV TOR.

NORMA/v 506K 4.2: ff/SAQ ,4 from/5r United States Patent O DIVING BOARD Norman Buck, 2332 Eastlake, Seattle, Wash.

Filed `Ian. 13, 1958, Ser. No. 708,697

Claims. (Cl. 272-66) My invention relates to the art of diving boards and particularly to the providing of a non-skid deck on metal diving boards such as the metal diving boards of my prior Patents 2,546,151 and 2,678,213.

Due to the fact that the metallic members of such diving boards were ilexed during normal operation, there was a tendency of the deck coating to ilake off and a very dillicult problem was involved in providing a very durable and long life coating.

In View of the fact that the deck members were generally of aluminum, a non-skid deck was imperative in the interest of safety. I employed the usual etching procedures for coating aluminum, such as iirst treating the deck with phosphoric acid, but I was unable to obtain a non-skid deck having satisfactory life and durability.

I have found that if the usual coating procedures are employed and if an addition thereto there is provided longitudinally extending grooves in the deck forming members, that I am able to provide a non-skid deck having desired durability and desired safety to the di-vers.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent as the description of the same proceeds and the invention will be best understood from the consideration of the accompanying detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part of the specification, with the understanding, however, that the invention is not to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described since obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

Figure 1 is a perspective view, with parts broken away, of a preferred form of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional -view taken substantially on broken line 2-2 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the top portion of one of the I beams employed in my invention.

As my present invention comprises a non-skid deck for diving boards employing therein side by side spaced apart llat metallic members, as the upper ilanges of I beams, I will illustrate and describe my invention in connection with the now standard diving board described in my Patent 2,678,213.

Referring now to Fig. l of the drawings, the spring board is attached to any suitable supporting means, such as a cross tube means 15, which functions as the anchor at the lixed end of the spring board. The fulcrum means 16 may also be of conventional design and the fulcrum means 16 has a fulcrum portion 17. The fulcrum portion 17 is preferably adjustable longitudinally of the spring board by conventional means (only partially illustrated).

The spring board comprises a plurality of I beams 18 which are spaced apart by spacer members 19 and tubular members 20 preferably form the outside members at each side of the spring board. As set forth in said Patent 2,678,213, the I beams 18 have their webs 2,963,294 Patented Dec. 6, 1960 reduced in height at the free or tip end portion of the board and similarly the tubular members 20, 20a and 20b provide for similar results.

The I beams 18 and the tubular members 20 are secured to the cross tube 15 at the iixed end of the diving board by cross member 21 and the tubes 20b and the I beams 18 are secured together at the outer or tip end of the board by cross brace 22.

Thus in the foregoing description it will now be evident that I have provided a plurality of longitudinally extending and sidewise spaced apart metallic members lying substantially in a common plane, by reason of the upper anges 23 of the I beams 18.

It is desirable to provide an anti-skid surface or coating on such upper ilanges and normally the said I beams 18 are aluminum extrusions. In view of the fact that the ilanges 23 are under varying degrees of tension as the tip end of the board goes downwardly from a neutral position and are under varying degrees of compression as the tip end of the board goes upwardly from a neutral position, these forces are transmitted to the deck coating tending to cause the deck coating to ilake off or become loose from the upper surfaces of the flanges 23 of the I beams 18. Previously I have first etched the upper surfaces of the flanges 23 with phosphoric acid and then applied usual deck paint but the said prior surfaces were not satisfactory as to durability and often it was required to provide from time to time a new non-skid surface on the diving board.

With my present invention, I provide aluminum extrusions which include a ilange 23 having a plurality of spaced apart longitudinally extending dove tail grooves 24. By a suitable mating die, the said I beams are provided with flanges 23 and each ilange 23 has provided therein spaced apart longitudinally extending dove tail grooves which are preferably full dove tail grooves.

Next a suitable deck coating 25 is applied and such coating may be any suitable non-skid paint to be applied to decks of metal. The coating should have the desired strength and llexibility when set to withstand expansion and contraction when in use. Also the coating a pumice aggregate or a fibrous aggregate such as viscosity so that it can be applied in a single coating. The non-skid feature obtains by employing in the coating a purnice aggregate or a fibrous aggregate such as ground asbestos. Also the coating should have a viscosity so that it may be applied in a single application to obtain, on the average, a lig of an inch coating and also it may be applied by a roller or other means to urge the coating into the dove tail grooves 24 as well as to provide the desired thickness of the surface coating.

In Fig. 1 of the drawings, it appears that the deck coating 25 extends not only over the I beams 18 but over the tubes 20a and 20h. The tubes 20a and 20b are not provided with grooves 24 as such tubes are not extrusions and thus diilicult to groove. Hence the bond between the tubes 20a and 2017 and the coating 25 is not as satisfactory as that between the I beams 18 and the coating 25 but it is practically useful as substantially all foot steps are on the central longitudinal path of the board.

From the foregoing it will now be apparent that I have provided a spring board comprising a plurality of side by side longitudinally extending llat metallic surface members, such as the flanges 23 and that each of said surface members is provided with a plurality of longitudinally extending grooves 24 which are preferably full dove tail grooves. Next it will be apparent that I have provided a continuous non-skid coating which is disposed over the surface members 23 and into the grooves 24 therein.

" Obviously changes may be made in the forms, di-

mensions and arrangements of the parts of my invention without departing from the principle thereof, the above setting forth only a preferred embodiment of my invention.

I claim:

1. A spring board comprising a pluralityy of'side. by side longitudinally extending at metallic surface members, each of the said surface members being provided with a plurality of longitudinally extending dove tail grooves, said surface members being adapted to flex in a direction normal to said grooves; and a continuous non-skid coating disposed over the surface members and into the dove tail grooves therein, whereby the coating in exing with the surface members exes in a direction normal to said grooves.

2. A spring board comprising a plurality of side by side longitudinally extending I beams providing upper flanges lying substantially in a common plane, each of said anges being provided with a plurality of longitudinally extending dove tail grooves said surface members being adapted to flex in a direction normal to ,said grooves; and a continuous non-skid coating disposed over the said flanges and into the grooves therein, Where,- by the coating in flexing with the surface members flexes in a direction normal to said grooves.

3. In the combination of a liexible diving spring board having a non-skid coating on the flexible jumping surface thereof, the improvement which comprises a plurality of closely spaced longitudinally extending grooves in said jumping surface, each of saidgrooves being configured cross sectionally to have a relatively small throat dimension and a relatively large interior dimension, the said coating covering said jumping surfacev and extendinginto and substantially Yfilling vsaid grooves,y providing both adherent and structural bonding of said coating to said jumping surface.

4. A flexible diving spring board comprising a plurality of side by side longitudinally extending, liexible flat metallic members, each of said metallic members being provided with a plurality oflongitudinally extending grooves, each of said grooves cross-sectionally having inwardly diverging walls and a basal transverse dimension larger than the transverse dimension at the throat thereof, and a continuous non-skid coating disposed over said surface members and extending substantially completely into the grooves therein, the relatively wider dimension of the coating portion at the -base of each groove serving to anchor said coating on said surface members when said members are exed in a direction normal to said grooves.

5. A liexible diving spring board according to claim 4, wherein eachv said groove is of a dovetail coniiguration, each such dovetailed groove serving as a socket into which the coating tits tightly, providing an interlocking structural and adherent bond between said member and said coating.

References Cited, in thev le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,529,729 Thompson Mar. 17, 1925 2,003,494 AReynolds n June 4, 1935 2,016,139 Eddison Oct. 1, 1935 2,177,73/8 Nolan Oct. 3l, 1939 2,534,408 -Br'amberry Dec. 1-9, 1950 6782.113 `Buck May 11, 1954 2,807,468 Patterson Sept. 24, 1957 2,831,688 Knox Apr. 22, 1958 

